Burnley Football Club have opened at temporary Christmas store at Burnley Market.
It was shop was opened by stars Brian Jensen, Ade Akinbiyi and Martin Paterson yesterday and compliments the official Clarets Store at Turf Moor. It will be open until at least January.
Preparatory work on Liverpool FC’s new stadium at Stanley Park has commenced. Contractors Laing O’Rourke began enabling works on Monday under a licence granted by Liverpool City Council. No major construction will commence until a lease agreement between the two parties has been finalised.
Co-chairman George Gillett said, ‘This is a significant milestone for the club and I am delighted that the design received full planning consent and that we are now on site. We have been working very hard over the last six months to move the details of the design along but this is the first tangible evidence for fans that a new LFC stadium will be built.’
Providing all goes to plan, the new stadium is expected to open in time for the start of the 2011/12 football season.
Morecambe FC have delayed the opening of their new stadium at Westgate until July 2010. A statement on the club’s official website states ‘It was previously anticipated that all planning, legal and sales agreements would be completed by July 2008. However, the process has taken slightly longer than anticipated and all agreements are now scheduled to be completed by the end of September 2008. This delay therefore gives insufficient time to enable completion of the new stadium in time for the 2009/10 season. The Board remains confident that all approvals will be granted by the end of September and that work on the stadium will commence in May 2009 and will be ready for the start of the 2010/11 season.’
Plans for Everton’s new stadium in Kirkby were approved by Knowsley Borough Council’s planning committee yesterday. The scheme includes a 50,000 capacity stadium, a Tesco superstore, 50 shops, and a hotel. Because of the size of the project it will be referred to the Government Office North West, where a decision will be made whether to approve the plans or call for a public inquiry.
Plans to redevelop Oldham Athletic’s Boundary Park stadium were given the go ahead by Oldham Council’s planning committee last night. In November councillors had rejected the proposals, sparking demonstrations by supporters.
Jubilant Chief Executive Alan Hardy said, ‘It’s something the fans deserve, because for years they’ve been going to other towns and seeing the benefit of rebuilt and redeveloped stadia. This is almost as good as getting to the Wembley in the League Cup Final and FA Cup semi-finals, but this redevelopment is important because it’s about the future. It’s not to do with the past, this is about looking ahead and hopefully Oldham Athletic will now have a bright future to look forward to.’
Construction of Liverpool Football Club’s new stadium is expected to commence in the first half of 2008 after the city council approved revised plans yesterday. The new stadium at Stanley Park is now expected to open in time for the 2011-12 football season.
Everton fans have given their backing to the club’s proposal to move their stadium to Kirkby. On Friday the club announced that 59% of fans voted in favour of the plans.
The ballot was run by the Electoral Reform Service and was open to season ticket holders, shareholders and fan club members, with just under 26 thousand votes received. It is thought that this is the first time that a major European football club has handed over such a significant decision to its supporters.
Forbes have named Manchester United the world’s richest club. With assets of £740m they easily beat second-placed Real Madrid (£528m) and third-placed Arsenal (£466m). In terms of revenues, they rank 4th with their annual income of £158m bettered by Real Madrid (£191m), Barcelona (£169m) and Juventus (£164m).
Liverpool Football Club looks set to be taken over by the investment arm of the Dubai Government. Dubai International Capital (DIC) will shortly begin a process of due diligence at Anfield before signing any deal.
DIC is the international investment arm of Dubai Holding. It is controlled by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the world’s fifth richest man. DIC also owns the Tussards Group, Travelodge, the London Eye and has a significant interest in DaimlerChrysler.
If the deal goes ahead the capital injected would be used to clear the clubs £80 million debt, fund a new 60,000-seater stadium at Stanley Park and compete with the likes of Chelsea on the transfer market.